The European equities markets saw early gains disappear on Tuesday as declines in the automobile manufacturing and oil sectors overcame advances in the telecommunications and other sectors.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.6 percent to 1,325.46, while the Xetra Dax was down 0.2 percent to 5,743.04 in Frankfurt. In Paris, the CAC-40 fell 0.6 percent to 4,929.97. Meanwhile, in early trade London’s FTSE 100 had fallen 0.3 percent, although the New York markets were up a bit.
France Telecom announced that its full-year underlying earnings were up 2.8 percent to €18.42 billion, around what had been forecast. In addition, the company said it will speed up its restructuring, including jobs cuts of 17,000 jobs around the world. This news sent the telecommunications company’s shares up 3.1 percent to €19.19.
Also up on positive earnings news was Electrolux, the world’s largest home appliance manufacturer. The Swedish company gained 3.8 percent to SKr217 as it announced that its fourth-quarter underlying pre-tax earnings were SKr1.86 billion, higher than forecasts of SKr1.49 billion and up from the previous quarter’s SKr1.36 billion.
The auto sector, including both carmakers and associated industries, were down on the day. Volkswagen was down 1.4 percent to €57.46, while BMW fell 1.9 percent to €39.84 and Renault dropped 2.6 percent to €81.70. Meanwhile, tyre makers Michelin and Continental were both down on the day, by 5.7 percent and 2.4 percent respectively. Michelin was trading at €51.60 and Continental’s price fell to €84.31.
In the oil sector, Neste Oil declined by 5.8 percent to €22.56, while OMV was down 4 percent to €51.26 on falling crude oil prices.